2/25/21 – Interviewing With Confidence

Written by: Sherri Jacob

Managing your Career and job search has changed a great deal during the pandemic. To help manage your career as an investment Carmen Payne,
an Executive, Personal and Professional Development Coach, offers multiple tools and solid coaching/advice to help you navigate the virtual employment setting.

Keynote

Carmen highlights the need to plan your 2021 career as there are great jobs available on the market. The new year is the perfect time to reflect on the last 12 months and to start fresh with new goals and career objectives. Here are three action steps to help you:

1. Reflect on the prior 12 months: take stock of accomplishments and failures.
2. Plan slow to move fast: Carefully build a career strategy and plan to reach your goal. Carmen quoted Naomi Caietti, author Transform your Project Leadership: “Your career is an investment and you need to treat it that way.”
3. Act Now: Focus on how to achieve a growth mindset and move past obstacles by turning them into opportunities.

Carmen shared with the audience several effective tools that will help to ensure a successful job search – check these out to help you on your journey.

Pre-Interview Checklist

• Ask what safety protocols/procedures are in place
• If in person, wear a mask and bring your own hand sanitizer
• If in person – do not shake their hand!
• If you are not comfortable going to an in-person interview, ask if it can be done over the phone or via video conference

The audience and Carmen suggested that you could utilize the not shaking hands as an ice breaker activity as the interview begins. Some suggestions included offer to elbow bump or do a virtual wave.

Prepare for “That” Interview Question

Many employers utilize behavioral interview questions – these usually begin with phrases like:

• what is your greatest strength/weakness
• tell me about a time when…
• describe a time when…
• give an example of…
• tell me about your last employer…

Introduce yourself

1. Breath and relax your shoulders
2. Greeting – “Good morning and repeat the interviewers name”
3. My name is ….., very nice to meet you
4. Don’t shake hands

When responding to the strength/weakness question, consider starting with your weakness and ending with a strength. This will allow you to end on a positive note. You should also be strategic when responding to these questions; don’t highlight a weakness that is a related to key job requirements and highlight strengths that are. Carmen recommends the use of a S.W.O.T. tool to prepare responses to behavioral questions. S.W.O.T stands for Strengths Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Here is a sample with thought starter questions to help with this exercise.

Customize your response to the job/career you are applying for. The job description, your resume, company information are good resources to help you create customized responses.

Carmen recommends the STAR tool to formulate responses to behavioral questions. Create multiple STAR responses that correspond to your resume and practice. If your interview is virtual, you can have your STAR responses printed for easy reference.

Body Language – Communication

Only 7% of our communication is through the spoken word, and in a virtual environment focus on our Body Language becomes even more important.

Carmen recommends
• Standing for the interview – this allows you to breath easily
• Assume a posture of confidence – this will be reflected in your conversation
• Pay attention to your face – it isn’t always what you say, but how you say it
• Watch your hands – while it is OK to talk with your hands be sure they don’t become a distraction. Keep your hands neutral to assure the interview he/she has your full attention.
• Maintain appropriate eye contact
• Mirror the body language of the interviewer –or conversely see if the interviewer mirrors yours.

Video Interview Checklist

• Download the video conference tool being used (Skype, Zoom etc.)
• Keep your login credentials handy
• Make sure your device can support the platform being used
• Just like you need to practice for the interview, test your technology. Practice with a friend. Learn your way around the software.
• Make sure you have an excellent WiFi/Internet connection – consider using an ethernet cable for the interview
• Ensure you are in a quite area with no distractions
• Have your STARs and notes at hand
• Lighting – natural lighting is the best. Light source should be in front not behind you.
• Position your camera high – think selfie
• When you get the interview details and link – test prior to the interview

The key to a successful job search is to prepare and practice. These tools will help you to plan for success. Carmen ended her talk with this thought:

Hiring Companies

Hacienda Healthcare
Kent Norris, HR Manager

Hacienda HealthCare is the leading provider of specialized medical care and social services for Arizona’s infants, children and young adults who are medically fragile or chronically ill, including those with developmental disabilities. Hacienda HealthCare traces its roots to 1967 when Ilene Butler founded it in Phoenix as “Hacienda de los Angeles.” It operated as a single facility serving only three children. Under the corporate umbrella, Hacienda has greatly expanded and now offers over 40 programs and services through four separate not for profit entities: Hacienda Inc., Hacienda Skilled Nursing Facility, Los Niños Hospital and Hacienda Children’s Hospital. Hacienda Healthcare currently provides services to over 2550 people every year throughout the state.

Currently hiring — Rn’s, LPN’s, CAN’s, Caregivers, Behavioral Specialists, Group Home Managers, LPN Medical Group Home Managers, Speech Language Pathologists and many more.
Apply Here: http://haciendainc.org/jobs/ or reach out to Ken

Cable One/Sparklight
Vanessa Corona, Sr. Talent Acquisition Specialist

Cable One, Inc. (NYSE: CABO) is a leading broadband communications provider.
• Serving more than 950,000 residential and business customers in 21 states.
• The Cable One family of brands includes Sparklight®, Fidelity, Clearwave, and ValuNet Fiber.
• We provide consumers with a wide array of connectivity and entertainment services.

Current openings include: Public Relations Manager, Digital Marketing Specialist, SharePoint Developer, Senior Web Developer (Full Stack), NOC Analyst, Accountant II, Sr. Revenue Accountant, Revenue Accounting Manager, Accounts Payable Representative and Internship Opportunities
View all openings and apply here: cableone.careers.

Freedom Financial Network
Heather Marcom, Senior Director, Talent Acquisition

Two decades ago, Freedom Financial Network was born out of an idea to give struggling consumers an affordable and responsible way to get out debt. What was true then, and remains true today, is that there are many ways for a consumer to get into debt, but very few ways for them to get out of it. Freedom’s promise to consumers has remained steadfast throughout time – to provide financial products and services that put the consumer first and help everyday Americans improve their financial situation.
Heather highlighted these positions: Sales Representatives- Program Enrollment, Sales Representatives- Lending Products, Spanish Speaking Sales- Lending Products, Customer Service Representatives, Mortgage Underwriters Software Engineers- Java, Node, PHP, Sr. Python Developer, Accounting Specialist, Lifecycle Marketing Specialist, Talent Acquisition Manager, InfoSec, Test Engineering.

View all openings and apply here: FFNJOBS.com.